Alleged N585m public funds diversion: BETTA EDU: ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

President Bola Tinubu suspends the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, from office with immediate effect.

 

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale said on Monday that the minister was suspended in line with President Tinubu’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in the management of the commonwealth of Nigerians.

 

Ngelale stated that the president further directed the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, as well as one or more agencies thereunder.

 

 

 

“The suspended Minister is hereby directed to hand over to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, and she is further directed by the President to fully cooperate with the investigating authorities as they conduct their investigation.

 

 

 

“Furthermore, the President has tasked a panel that is headed by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance to, among other functions, conduct a comprehensive diagnostic on the financial architecture and framework of the social investment programmes with a view to conclusively reforming the relevant institutions and programmes in a determined bid to eliminate all institutional frailties for the exclusive benefit of disadvantaged households and win back lost public confidence in the initiative”.

The Presidency has said the alleged financial impropriety involving the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, is being investigated.

 

 

Edu had reportedly ordered the transfer of N585.189 million meant for vulnerable persons in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states into a private account.

 

In a viral document signed by Edu and directed to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the minister directed the disbursement of N585.189 million into the private account of Bridget Mojisola Oniyelu, an official in the ministry.

 

 

Amid the widespread outrage, Edu, in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Zubair, justified her action, saying the payment followed due process.

 

Meanwhile, the EFCC has invited the suspended minister to its headquarters to answer questions over an attempt to move public funds into a private account.

 

 

Multiple media reports indicated that the anti-graft agency invited her to appear for interrogation shortly after Edu’s suspension was announced.

 

The EFCC was said to have earlier recommended the immediate suspension of the minister to pave the way for the ongoing investigation that had been ordered by the President.

 

A Daily Trust report quoted an EFCC source who said the commission immediately swung into action after the President ordered a thorough investigation into the alleged payment of N585.189 million grant meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states into a private account.

 

“Our investigation into the alleged payment won’t be thorough if we didn’t recommend the Minister’s suspension. Her suspension will give us the liberty to do our job thoroughly as directed by the president.

 

“An official invitation by the commission has already been sent to her. We expect her to honour the invitation to give proper insight into the issue at hand. So, we expect her to arrive here anytime soon,” Daily Trust quoted an EFCC source to have said.

 

The National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) which administers the Federal Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer has been under probe, following the alleged misappropriation of over N37 billion.

 

 

President Tinubu had earlier sacked the national coordinator and chief executive officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, (NSIPA) Halima Shehu who was the national coordinator in charge of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme under the humanitarian affairs ministry during Buhari’s tenure.

 

The former minister in the ministry, Sadiya Umar-Farouq is also facing EFCC interrogation.